Hey, just was curious on what would be most beneficial for my mage build. Robes will give me extra magicka regen which is very useful, but the downside to robes is that i dont have protection when things get to close or monsters pop up outta nowhere. So i dont know what i should pick. If i did heavy, i wouldnt get my magicka regen and i would move alot slower, but i would have tons more armor. Light armor would do something good for my stamina and give me a little armor but again, i wouldnt be able to have my magicka regen. Also, i know that 1 handed wouldnt work with a robe mage, but what about heavy or light armor along with mage atributes. I wasnt really wanting a battlemage or spellsword cuz people say they suck, but more of a tanky mage type build.

My current build is a tank mage. Heavy armor, block, destruction, alteration, restoration, smithing. He bashes with his Spellbreaker and blasts people away with firebolts. It's been a fun playthrough. No points into magicka, just health and stamina. He has 35% magic resistance right now, but is working towards the 70% that a non-Breton can get. He is will also have 80% spell absorbtion when he's finished with the game, more if I decide to use Miraak's stuff.

Tanky and Mage in the same sentence doesn't sound right to me, but that's just me.

Tanky suggests to me that you'll need to put too many points into health (and possibly stamina) instead of magicka. The same goes for perks, too many going into your combat skills instead of your magic skills. Personally, I'd go; tons of magicka, tons of regen, robes. I'm sure there are many here who would disagree with me.

If you've never done a mage build before I'd suggest going for full squishy mage. You'll die lots, you'll run away (laughing) lots, you'll get a good education on how mages work and how you'll need to alter your playstyle to play a mage.

I find mages hard in the beginning but so much fun, especially when you start getting stronger magically. Walking into a room full of warriors, as a squishy mage with no armour, and destroying them without getting touched is pretty cool when you remember how hard it was to begin with.

Plus some mage spells are hilarious (Paralyze, Frenzy etc.).

If you do go squishy mage: - Alteration: flesh spells (oakflesh etc.) are your friend especially coupled with Mage Armor perk at higher levels. - Illusion: Never under-estimate the power of the Illusion school of magic. It is massively powerful IF used from the beginning of the game. Illusion needs to level up around the same rate that you do as the spells affect enemies based on their level, dual casting plus perks will increase the level limit of the spells. - If not using a follower, then invest in Conjuration so you can summon an Atronach etc. to draw incoming attacks away from you (Or get Sanguine Rose as soon as you can).

Bottom line, do whatever you like, as long as you're having fun, but I do think everyone should give a squishy mage a good try at least once.

The trick to being a pure mage is never letting anything get close enough to need armor. That may sound glib, but it's true. There are of course time when you can't do that, but wearing armor and putting perks in it to make it effective just takes away perks you need for magic.

On the other hand, you can be an "impure" mage, such as a heavy armor wearing sorcerer. My last character was a Dunmer priest (conjuror, healer) who wore heavy armor and wielded a mace. Definitely easier than a pure mage at the lower levels, but you don't really gain anything at the higher levels.

I would say level up enchanting as much as possible as soon as possible.When you reach level 100 (or close to it) then get some heavy armour and enchant it with magicka regen and another enchantment of your choice (make sure you have the perk that allows you to do this) - i tend to go for destruction is cheaper/does more damage.You could also watch a guide if you're still unsure.